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Are you planning your guided tour in Florence and you want to visit the churches of Florence in an authentic way, organizing a tour that responds exactly to your preferences and needs?
Well, here you will find all the information you need to choose the churches in Florence that best meet your interests. Each of them has something, indeed a lot, to tell!
And with the right guide, what you think will be a simple visit can become an unforgettable moment to recall over the years.
How to include the churches of Florence in a truly tailor-made tour?
Imagine your tour as a tailor-made dress: you tell me what you love, how much time you have, which experiences you don’t want to miss and I create the itinerary that best suits your interests and needs.
You can choose if you prefer to dedicate your time to only one church in Florence, or if you also want to explore the markets, the hidden narrow streets, the less touristy areas. You can tell me if you love history, art, architecture or if, maybe, you also want to savour a bit of everyday life.
The more details you give me, the more your itinerary will follow your way of travelling.
Undoubtedly, Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella are among the richest and the most fascinating basilicas of Florence. We can dedicate to each of them a whole hour and a half. If instead you want to combine the visit to the church with a broader tour of the city, we can think of an hour inside one of the basilicas and two hours outside, walking around Florence.
Each basilica in Florence tells a fascinating story about the city and European art.
The Florentine churches are not simple places of worship: they are real museums, full of symbols, masterpieces and tales ready to be told.
Let’s just think of Santa Maria Novella: here you can witness the beginning of the Renaissance! The facade designed by Alberti, the Trinity by Masaccio, the crucifix by Brunelleschi. In this church in Florence you can clearly perceive the transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Age and it is therefore the ideal place for those who love Renaissance art and who want to understand how and where it took shape.
But it is certainly not the only treasure that this city can offer. Let’s see which other churches and basilicas you can visit with me or with one of our guides.
Each church in Florence has something unique to tell. And in your custom tour that I can build for you, you can choose which ones to visit, based on your interests and the time available.
Here are some of the basilicas of Florence that I propose most often:
If you have little time and want to include at least one church in Florence in your itinerary, Santa Croce and Santa Maria Novella are two must-see sites. They are the most iconic basilicas in Florence, both for their historical importance and for the beauty and richness of the works of art they house.
To calmly enjoy each of the churches in Florence, take into account at least an hour. If you have an hour and a half, it’s even better. You’ll have a chance to go into detail and linger on the works of art with no rush.
If instead you want to visit two basilicas in a single tour, the ideal duration of the whole tour is 3 hours.
Remember, however, that if your choice falls on Santa Maria Novella and Santa Croce, it is better to arrange a longer tour. The two churches are in fact distant one from another and to reach them you cross the heart of the historic centre: a true open-air museum.
A walk along the streets of Florence, among Renaissance palaces, sculptures, and history, becomes part of the experience.
For this reason, in this case, I recommend at least a 4-hours tour, so you don’t feel rushed and you can enjoy each stop with the time it deserves.
Every trip is different, every traveller is different. This is why I create personalized custom tours that take into account your interests, the time you have available and the way you like to experience a city.
If you want to visit the churches of Florence, but also see some art, visit the markets, or walk along the streets of the city discovering the hidden details, we can build the perfect itinerary for you together.
Fill out the form below and tell me what you would like to see, how much time you have and how much of this time you would like to spend in my company.
If you want to take a tour of the city with a visit to one of the churches of Florence, I recommend combining a visit to a basilica, such as Santa Maria Novella or Santa Croce, with a guided walk through the squares, palaces and main cultural sites of Florence.
With a half-day tour, we can focus on a single church. If you have a whole day available, the best is to visit one church in the morning and one in the afternoon, so you can experience the city wish no rush.
If you choose to visit San Lorenzo, it is worth adding a visit to the Medici Chapels, today a separate museum that includes the Chapel of the Princes and Michelangelo’s New Sacristy, the two funerary chapels of the Medici family.
For a complete tour, we can also visit the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana also designed by Michelangelo for the Medici family. It’s a hidden gem that perfectly completes the discovery of the San Lorenzo complex.
Florence offers a particular atmosphere in every period of the year. Visiting the churches of Florence during seasonal events makes the experience even more memorable.
I, therefore, collected here the information about some special events, that will make your visit to the churches and basilicas of Florence special:
Because we don’t offer you just a random visit! Each basilica is a world to discover, and with us you will visit the churches guided by those who have dedicated years of study and passion to the history of art.
Santa Maria Novella, for example, is the church on which I wrote my doctorate. Five years of research spent among archives, architectural details and hidden symbols that today allow me to share with you some stories that only few know about.
Santa Croce, on the other hand, is a very special basilica for me, as I have a deep bond with Franciscan spirituality.
During the visit there I will also take you in front of Vasari’s Last Supper, a work of art that intertwines art, Renaissance medicine and symbolisms that I have studied in depth in my studies.
In fact, my method is very different from “hit and run” tourism. My collaborators and I firmly believe that art history is for everyone and that all you need is someone who knows how to explain it with the right words.
This is why during my tours I like to use metaphors, concrete examples, references to the present: so that every concept becomes accessible and remains with you, even after the visit.
Fill out the form, tell me which basilicas you would like to visit.and we’ll start creating your personalized itinerary through Florence’s art treasures.
I will respond personally with an itinerary designed specifically for you, to make you live an authentic, rich and unforgettable experience.
